Editor's Note

The Charge

Leap away! LEAP AWAY!

Opening Statement

The prospect of watching the likable Amy Adams (Doubt) and talented Matthew Goode (Watchmen) in a frothy rom-com wasn't
something I was dreading. More fool me. Leap Year is a mostly unfunny and
painstakingly dull feature, offering a leading duo who boasts absolutely zero
chemistry together. Plus, its depiction of the Irish takes the phrase
"freaking stupid" to new heights.

Facts of the Case

Anna (Amy Adams) has a great job and a terrifically successful boyfriend
(Adam Scott, Step Brothers), but
despite her healthy and long love life she has no rock on her finger. After
being led to believe a proposal was forthcoming, only to be disappointed with a
pair of earrings, Anna is left massively concerned and deflated. However a
conversation with her quirky father (John Lithgow, Shrek) reveals that in Ireland a
woman can propose to a man on Leap Day, which is conveniently mere hours away,
and remarkably where her boyfriend has gone on business. So in sassy rom-com
style, Anna heads to Ireland, where she ends up recruiting the services of a
surly barman called Declan (Matthew Goode) to get her to Dublin, and the
destination of her partner's conference. As you can imagine, Declan and Anna
don't get along particularly well over the course of their journey, and many
wacky hi-jinks ensue. If cliché is ever considered a proper commodity, then
copies of Leap Year will be amongst its richest sources.

The Evidence

Boring, Boring, Boring, Boring!!!! Leap Year is the sort of film
audiences can predict from reading the synopsis or watching the trailer. It's an
obvious and cliché-ridden dullard of a picture, which most insultingly of
all wastes two decent leads. The film's silly interpretation of Ireland adds
further problems to the melting pot, albeit the biggest concerns are probably
the lack of laughs and its badly conceived romance. Basically it's just another
badly produced and uninspired rom-com—because we don't already have enough
of those.

Amy Adams is a good actress, a credible comedienne, and a warm screen
presence, so why is her performance in Leap Year so bland? I suppose most
of the blame must be laid at the doors of Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont (the
screenwriting duo behind Josie and
the Pussycats), who pack heaps of generic storytelling and dramatic inertia
into their sugary script. The characters feel like factory produced automatons,
which derails their romance completely. The jokes are of a nauseatingly low
quality. I laughed once at the picture; the rest of the time was spent in stone
faced silence. It's not as if Leap Year is offensive or misogynistic (and
it's much better than say, The Ugly
Truth), but there is no denying that it's overly saccharine and completely
underdeveloped.

The film is directed by Anand Tucker, a filmmaker who in past projects has
at least attempted to do something ambitious. Leap Year is the definition
of wimpy cinema, boasting a despicably formulaic screenplay and an obvious
ending, with large hunks of unfunny Irish adventuring to fill the gaps. There's
nothing brave about such a sappy cocktail. More worryingly however, the movie is
also technically rather poor; the editing is clumsy, and whilst the Irish
countryside looks pretty, the cinematography feels whitewashed and
uninteresting.

The depiction of life in Ireland is all rural shenanigans and heavy boozing,
with a few simpleton farmers thrown in for good stereotypical measure. As a
resident of Ireland, Leap Year is too innocuous to annoy, its crappy
presentation of life on the emerald isle is too unconvincing and cartoonish to
properly frustrate. What really burns about Leap Year is its failure to
utilize the intriguing combo of Goode and Adams as a screen couple, its banal
devotion to formula, and of course its misjudged sense of humour. Leap
Year is one to avoid, and if you do see it, at least you'll forget it pretty
quickly.

The only extras on this disc are a few deleted scenes, most of which give
John Lithgow (whom the film totally fails to use) a bit more fat to chew. I'm
glad they've been presented as supplementary material, simply because it keeps
the already tiresome film shorter. The audio is decent and the video does
capitalize on the Irish scenery, despite Tucker's shamefully workmanlike visual
style.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Amy Adams and Matthew Goode make a limp couple, but the latter is okay on the
basis of his individual performance. He musters a pretty good Irish accent (a
rarity in any production outside of the country itself) and his roguish
performance and snarky delivery are at least fun in parts. Basically he's the
only semi-memorable thing about the project.

Closing Statement

Leap Year is a waste of time; it barely even works as a travelogue for
the Irish tourist industry.